Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is well aware that hockey fans in Columbus will overwhelmingly back the United States in the Olympics next month in Sochi, Russia.

But Bobrovsky, one of four Blue Jackets named to the Russian roster on Tuesday, said the host nation is worthy of this support, too.

Club and country, he said, aren’t mutually exclusive.

“Why not Russia?” Bobrovsky asked yesterday. “We play for this club, this American club, and we’re like family here. So why not?”

Defenseman Fedor Tyutin will play in his third Olympics. Bobrovsky, defenseman Nikita Nikitin and forward Artem Anisimov will play in their first. More than a quarter of Russia’s 15 NHL players are Blue Jackets. That alone, Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said, is reason to root on the Russians.

“When you have that many guys being on a team, it’s kind of your team,” said Richards, a U.S. assistant. “It’s an easy way to root for a team.”

There will be enormous pressure on the Russians, who are expected to win gold by a hockey-mad nation. The Soviet Union won seven Olympic gold medals from 1956 to ’88. The Unified Team, made up of six former Soviet republics, won gold in 1992. But Russia has not won gold, and has not won a medal since taking the bronze in Salt Lake City in 2002.

“It’s going to be big pressure,” Bobrovsky said. “But we have to find a way.”

Tyutin said up to six teams will be in the running for a medal, led by the deep and talented Canadians. The U.S, Finland, Sweden and Czech Republic are also expected to be contenders.

“It’s not going to be about one or two teams,” said Tyutin, who has no goals and three assists in 12 games at Vancouver (2010) and Turin (2006). “Anybody can beat anybody.”

That is partly why Bobrovsky will be in the spotlight. He is expected to be in a tight competition with Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche for Russia’s No. 1 goaltending spot. Russia is a favorite for a medal, but whoever is in net will play behind a relatively suspect defensive corps.

“We’re going to support each other no matter who is going to play,” Bobrovsky said. “We’re going to play for our country, not ourselves.”

Anisimov was still processing his selection, reflecting on one of the seminal moments of his childhood. A 7-4 Russian semifinal win over Finland at Nagano in 1998 — in which Pavel Bure scored five goals — and an ensuing 1-0 overtime loss to the Czech Republic in the gold-medal game were etched in his memory at age 9.

“Watching on TV, that was huge for me,” Anisimov said. “I remember the cheering. Right now, I still can’t believe I am on the team, knowing that now, somebody is going to be cheering like that for me.”

The Russian quartet will shoulder a huge load, a burden that could weigh on them until the Games begin. But it is one that, for now, must be set aside, Bobrovsky said. The Blue Jackets will play 15 games before breaking for the Olympics.

“You have to find a way to control that,” said Bobrovsky, who made 40 saves on Monday in a 4-3 shootout win over the New York Rangers in his first game back from a groin injury. “On my chest is Columbus. I play for this team now. We have goals and we have purpose, right here and right now. Nobody else cares about the Olympics, and that’s the way it has to be until then.”’

Cannon Fodder Podcast

Cannon Fodder is the podcast from The Dispatch sports team covering the Blue Jackets. Tune in for lively discussions about the ta and the rest of the NHL. Subscribe to the show through its RSS feed or iTunes.

Commentary from the Dispatch

Columnist Michael Arace shares his thoughts on the Blue Jackets and the NHL.